TGIF!

Click image for more pictures!Six pilots, ten hours (+) airtime!

After Simon and Charlie had a great soaring session at Mt Prevost earlier in the week, a few of us were busting to get some crisp autumn air under our wings. Today was forecast to be sunny with north winds so Paul, Rick, Pierre, Charlie, and I ferried over to Saltspring to join Kuno in giving Bruce Peak a try.

The only thing was, the wind was blowing over 35kph during our crossing so we didn't think we'd even get to fly, let alone stay up for hours.

But somehow the wind on launch was steady, just below 20kph, and Paul took to the air first, heading right and, to the rest of our surprise, not just getting 'parked' in the valley and heading out to land, but working the ridge and thermalling back up and over! A bit of a takeoff scurry ensued and before long, everyone was in the air, jockeying for position over the clearcuts - bobbing up and down as the thermals increased and decreased in strength.

There was a definite wind from the north up high and everyone drifted between launch and Fulford Harbour a number of times over the next couple of hours, getting up to the limit in the process.

Click image for more pictures!I was flying the Magic5 and made the jump across to Upper Bruce, finding my strongest climb of the day near there, allowing for a thousand foot gain. After about an hour I considered toplanding but gave up after many attempts as the lift was just too plentiful over the takeoff area.

It was pretty special to fly with friends on a Friday afternoon with such clear ocean, island, and mountain views! We all finally flew our fill and decided to land to catch the ferry back to Vancouver Island. Except Kuno, of course.